Black Rose
by simple-bananas
Summary: Guts wakes up in the middle of the night only to find he's been transported to another world.
1. Chapter 1

_The air smells…. Different_. So thought Guts as he swung his sword for what felt like the thousandth time that night. Another one of these mystery creatures fell to his blade, only to be replaced by two more. He swung again and again as the creatures attempted to claw, bite at him, most of their attacks missing. As he brought his blade around for another swing, Guts' mind wandered to how he had ended up here. His last thought before waking up in the middle of the dark forest was falling asleep under Schierke's healing magic after fighting a group of mutated beasts…. Like what he was fighting now. There were many differences between the beasts he fought earlier and those he fought now- those earlier had been covered in scales and crawled on the ground while these were mostly jet black and resembled wolves- but what were those differences to him? Just more monsters to kill before he got to rest again.

Dozens of red eyes gleamed at him in the light of the shattered moon- another oddity he had noticed- as they crowded around him, eager for a taste of his flesh. As he cleared an area in front of him of the creatures with one huge swing, he raised his prosthetic arm to fire the repeating crossbow mounted on it. A few more creatures fell, but even more crowded to take their place. He sighed as he swung yet again. It wasn't like killing these things was hard- he had had a harder time fighting the scaled monsters- it was rather tedious. Definitely not worth using the berserker armor. He felt as though he hadn't rested fully before waking up surrounded by these things in the middle of the night, and it was beginning to wear down on him. A larger beast leapt towards him- this one resembling a bear more than a wolf- and he brought the dragonslayer down on its head, cleaving it almost in two. It fell and dissolved, as he had noticed these beasts tended to do. He felt lucky these creatures dissolved after death, otherwise the corpses would have gotten in his way. He glanced around him, noticing the first rays of sun over the horizon. If these creatures were anything like the ones he was used to fighting then they would disappear under the rays of bright light.

Somehow, he doubted that was the case.

After what felt like several hours- although it couldn't have been more than two or three- the creatures were finally either all dead or had fled from him. The sun had fully risen at this point, and Guts was glad for its warmth on his face. He slumped beneath a tree, leaning on the dragonslayer as his eye began to close from exhaustion. As his eye drooped, he noticed movement out of the corner of his sight. He glanced over-

-and was struck hard enough to send him flying across the clearing.

Somehow Guts held onto his sword while he was in the air. He landed hard against the base of a tree, coughing blood. He looked up at what had struck him.

It was at least ten feet tall, on four legs with horns- _no, those are tusks_ \- sticking out from behind a dangling appendage where its nose should have been. The creature trumpeted and charged at him again. He managed to stand and get the point of his sword between him and this monster's face, bracing himself for the impact. It suddenly turned, faster than a creature that size should have been able to, and caught him in his side.

The berserker armor sparked as the tusk glanced off, not even scratching the enchanted steel. Guts, however, felt that the impact had broken at least three ribs, most likely breaking more. The creature stopped and looked back at him, seeming confused as to why he wasn't dead. Guts quickly brought his sword around, slicing off one of the creatures back legs. It roared in, turning to face him- and immediately fell over due to its missing leg. As it struggled to rise, Guts raised the dragonslayer and brought it down in an arc at the creature's neck.

It gave one final roar before dissolving into shadow. Guts fell against the tree, exhausted from the fight. He breathed in a sigh. Knowing the sun would bring no relief from the monsters made him wary. A nap was definitely out of the question. He pulled himself up, using his sword as leverage, and stood still to listen to the sounds around him. These creature seemed like they prefer head on attacks to stealth, which would make his life easier if they weren't constantly stalking him. However, these creatures had shown to have several different breeds, so he must have his guard up in case a stealthier beast tried to kill him. He sighed again and looked around. Besides this clearing, the forest was thick with massive trees, so he couldn't exactly see where to go. He decided to pick a direction and start walking.

Guts walked for hours, the sun steadily rising to his left. He was listening for sounds of the creatures approaching him, but also for any source of water he could find. The fight had left him incredibly thirsty, and he would need to find water soon. As he thought about it, he reached up and rubbed the brand on his neck. It had not bled ever since the seal had been placed on it, so he couldn't know if these creatures were some kind of apostle or if they were something else entirely. Of course the seal was supposed to keep any supernatural forces from being drawn to him, but magic didn't always work the way it was supposed to. He tilted his head, hearing the faintest sound of running water.

 _Finally_ , he thought, hobbling faster towards the sound. It got louder and louder, until he finally came upon a small stream. He knelt at the edge, leaning his face into the stream. He drank deeply of the cool water until his thirst was sated, then stood, looking around.

"Should be a village around here somewhere, seeing as there's water here," Guts said out loud. He looked around, in case a beast suddenly came charging out from between the trees. Nothing came, so he began his walk down stream. The sun steadily rose through the branches, elongating the shadows into twisted shapes as he continued his journey downstream. The air was still, the forest silent except for the chirping of birds. He stopped every few minutes to take a drink from the stream before continuing on.

After walking for another hour or so, he began hearing a strange sound from far off in the distance. It sounded almost like a huge swarm of buzzing insects. He was pondering moving towards the sound or away from it when he realized something else: the buzzing would stop, then start back up again at random intervals. Also, he faintly heard sounds of shouting, as well as the unmistakable sound of metal on metal.

"Might be a group of soldiers under attack, maybe some villagers…. Either way, they might know where in the hell I am," Guts thought to himself as he started moving towards the sounds. As he got closer, he heard shouting as well as a roar from some beast like what he had fought earlier.

"If they need help, might get some free food by assisting them," he thought as the sounds grew louder. When the sounds appeared to be just pass the next brush pile, he heard something new- a faint clicking that seemed to come at random intervals.

He reached out and pushed the brush aside and stopped dead in his tracks.

In front of him were for people fighting several of the bear-like creatures he had seen earlier. Their clothes seemed strange, but not as strange as their weapons. Two men- one large, one more of a medium size- were fighting up close to the crowd of monsters. The larger one was wearing green armor while wielding a massive curved orange sword- though not nearly as big as the dragonslayer- while the smaller one wore a red shirt and wielded what appeared to be two reverse orange blades on each arm. Behind them was a woman in all brown wielding- what was that? At first he thought it was a cannon, but at second glance it was rotating very quickly, and seemed to be the source of the buzzing sound he had heard earlier. Maybe some kind of advanced repeating crossbow? And behind her was another woman, this one wearing brown and orange clothes of different styles holding a flashing box to her face and yelling encouragement to the others fighting. Guts had to look at her twice before noticing the rabbit ears protruding from her head.

"Where the hell am I?" he thought as he backed up to hide himself in the brush.

"We've got more Ursa coming in!" Yatsuhashi shouted as he cleaved a beowolf in half.

The group of bear-like Grimm charged out of the woods towards the members of team CFVY, roaring. Coco swung her minigun around to face them and squeezed the trigger, dissolving the first few monsters into black mist. Fox ran from behind her, his twin arm blades flashing as he took the head off of another beast. Velvet's camera clicked away in the background as the rest of her team finished up the fight.

As the last Grimm dissolved into nothing, Coco's minigun folded in on itself until it was the exact size and shape of the handbag she was usually seen with. She sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her team had been sent to exterminate a small group of Grimm two days ago, and the whole thing had turned into a much bigger mission when they had stumbled upon a nest of beowolves while scouting the area. As they got deeper into the woods, they kept meeting Grimm in bigger and bigger packs, which was highly unusual for this part of the forest. Another oddity was the fact all of the creatures had been heading in the same general direction since they had arrived. Since creatures of Grimm were drawn to negative emotions, the team had come up with a theory that they were near a ruined village, most likely torn apart by the monsters. They had been on their way to scout around and see if they could find wherever the creatures were headed when this pack had found them.

"Well, that was fun," Coco said as she checked her handbag.

"Yeah, if you call being attacked by a couple dozen Grimm fun," Yatsuhashi responded.

"Well if I didn't think it was fun I wouldn't have said it Yatsuhashi," Coco snapped back at him.

Velvet ran up to where the rest of her team was gathered, stowing her camera back in its box at her hip. Even after the battle, she seemed slightly nervous and continually glanced around.

"Hey guys, I don't mean to scare you or anything but-"she began.

"What's up Velvet? You look like you've seen a ghost," Yatsuhashi said as Coco punched her shoulder.

"Hope you got my good side while taking those photos," she joked.

"Guys, seriously. I might just _have_ seen a ghost while you were fighting," Velvet said nervously.

"What do you mean?" asked Fox as he walked towards them.

"Well, right before those Ursa came charging in I nearly dropped my camera. When I went to steady myself I happened to glance around and saw what looked like a man in black. Then I turned back towards you guys when Yatsuhashi yelled about the Grimm, and when I looked back he was gone."

"Hmmmmm…. Seems interesting. Could just be some old hermit living out on his own." Coco said.

"I don't know Coco, he looked pretty young to me," Velvet replied.

"Well, was he hot at least?" Coco asked, lowering her sunglasses.

"I- what- I barely glanced at him, I could hardly tell he was there any way!" Velvet said, flustered.

"I'll take that as a yes," Coco said, looking around the clearing. "Well, we had better get moving. If there's some hot guy around here I'd really hate to have him eaten by Grimm."

They took a defensive position- Yatsuhashi in front, Coco behind, Fox watching their flank and Velvet in the middle- and began their trek back into the woods.

They came upon a stream when Fox knelt to look at something in the mud.

"What is it Fox?" asked Yatsuhashi.

"It looks like Velvet really did see someone. There are boot prints here, and here. Looks like he knelt to get a drink before he continued walking." Fox said.

"And do we know where he's headed?" Velvet asked.

"Actually, it looks like he was headed towards where we were fighting earlier before turning around. I'd have to look around a bit more to see if I could find any more prints." Fox replied.

"Welp, Velvet, looks like you were right after all." Coco said, slapping her on the back. She glanced at the prints, then at the trees around her.

"Think we should look for him in case any Grimm show up?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Well, usually I'd say yes, but first we need to find what's drawing these Grimm all to the same place." Coco replied.

"Have we thought about the possibility that whoever this guy is, he's the one drawing in the Grimm?" Fox asked.

"I mean, I guess it _could_ be possible, but I highly doubt it. It would take a group of people who all were having a really, really bad day to draw in this many Grimm at once." Yatsuhashi said.

"Well in any case, we have to find the source. So if it is this guy or something else that's the problem, we'll figure it out soon." Coco said.

"Why do you say that?" Velvet asked.

"Because," replied Coco, "I'm pretty sure I just heard an explosion."

As the others stopped to listen, they all heard something else- a shout, and then a screech of pain that could have only been caused by a Grimm.

"Let's go check it out," Coco said as she activated her minigun.

Guts swung again and again, clearing away the group of monsters before him. These had come charging out of the woods as he walked back upstream to find a place to rest after deciding to not bother with those strange people. He wasn't afraid, just wary of the woman with the….. he decided to call it a repeating crossbow, but knew that wasn't the case. But what else could it be? Besides, better to scout them out first and decide if they were friend or foe.

The bear-like creatures- that boy had called them Ursa- charged at him again and again, all meeting the same fate beneath his sword. They dissolved into mist, only to be replaced by four more. Out of the corner of his eye he saw more coming, as well as a new kind of monster- almost like a boar, but with four eyes.

He brought his metal fist down on the head of a wolf creature before turning to face this new threat. Two of the boars stopped a few feet away before curling into up, like they were going to roll at him? It was then he noticed the sharp spines protruding from their backs.

The two boars charged, their spines tearing up the ground. Guts swung his sword and cut the first one in half as it neared him, but the second one managed to just dodge his swing and hit him full force. The impact sent him flying into the base of a tree.

As a group of the Ursa charged at him, he raised his sword and swung in an arc in front of him. The swing took the heads off three of the beasts and various limbs from the rest. As the boar prepared to charge again, three others joined it. As they flew towards him, Guts raised his prosthetic arm, grabbing the string protruding from it with his teeth while raising his sword with the other hand. As the boars neared him, he yanked back on the string, firing the small cannon hidden in his prosthetic arm. The cannonball broke through the first two boars and sent an Ursa flying. He used the momentum from the cannon shot to propel the dragonslayer around, catching the rest of the boars on its edge. He pulled on the sword's grip with all his might, completely slicing through several monsters and sending even more flying through the air. As he turned to face the other monsters- of which there were still at least a dozen- he coughed, spraying blood on the ground in front of him. It was then he realized the boar earlier had hit him harder than he originally thought. A wolf monster lunged at him, only to meet its end on the dragonslayer. As Guts brought his sword back around, he was struck from behind by a powerful tail.

As he flew through the air, he coughed even more blood. The berserker armor may be protecting him from being cut to pieces, but it didn't stop a heavy impact from shaking around his insides.

Guts landed in the middle of the remaining wolf monsters, which he quickly dispatched with a whirling slice from his sword. He then turned to face what had hit him earlier.

It appeared to be a massive snake, half black and half- then he realized it had a head on both ends. He rose to meet this new threat by lunging towards the black half, bringing his sword down to cleave it in two. In his peripheral vision, he saw the white half lunging towards him, fangs outstretched.

As he brought the dragonslayer down on the monster, the white half's fangs scraped his armor but didn't pierce it. The sword struck home, slicing the two halves apart. He heard a loud, angry hiss before turning to finish off the monster. Now both halves were reared up, prepared to strike at him. He swung his sword as they lunged.

In slow motion, he saw that his sword would hit both snakes across the mouth but the black half had aimed higher than the white half, trying to bite at his face. He twisted his body so the snake would miss its initial mark…..

And instead pierced his shoulder.

He roared as he cut into the monsters, finally felling them by slicing their heads off. He fell to one knee, grasping at the fang near his neck. He sighed in relief when he realized it did not sink in completely, rather it was buried almost an inch into his skin. The upward force of his sword had caught the monsters right as he was pierced, stopping it from going all the way in.

As these thoughts went through his head, he realized that the fang wasn't his only problem- a feeling of numbness was slowly spreading over his body from where the fang had pierced him. He grasped at the fang with his good hand but felt nothing due to the numbing sensation that now covered half his body. He struggled to stand, using the dragonslayer with his prosthetic hand to hold himself up. As he straightened, his knees shook violently before giving out and sending him back to the ground. He grit his teeth, struggling to rise again. He heard a low growl coming from his right but could do nothing to turn and see what it was.

" _So this is it then?_ " Guts thought to himself, " _Three years at war, the eclipse, fighting apostles at every turn, and I'm going to die to some beast I've never seen before earlier today._ "

He would have laughed if he could still control his face.

An image passed through his mind then- one that had been seared into his brain years ago. It was an image of Griffith as he'd been before his torture and the eclipse- bright eyed, smiling, white hair streaming down his back.

The thought drove a spike of extreme hatred through Guts.

Slowly, he moved his left arm to pick up his fallen sword, his right arm moving to support his weight as he struggled to rise.

 _"I can't die, I won't die yet,"_ Guts thought as he slowly raised himself, " _Not until I kill Griffith."_

As the monsters closed in around him, he managed to stand, using the dragonslayer to support his weight, as his legs were almost useless from the venom in his blood. With an enormous effort, he managed to bring his sword around and slice the head off of a monster. They seemed taken aback at the fact he could stand, let alone swing his massive sword.

Gritting his teeth, Guts prepared to activate the berserker armor. It didn't matter if he lost his mind here, nothing mattered except killing Griffith. If he lost his mind here to the armor's dark powers, then be mindless he would- eventually, he knew Schierke would detect the armor and find him, bring him back to who he was.

At least, that's what he hoped.

Although he had no idea what effect the venom would have on the armor's powers.

As the monsters closed in around him, he felt the armor's presence enter his mind, calling to him to unleash its full potential. Right as he was about to pass the point of no return, an angry shout brought him back.

The armor's spirit faded away as he looked around and saw the monsters suddenly dissolving for no apparent reason. It was then he heard the buzzing sound from earlier, although this time it was much louder. He turned to look behind him, only to see the four people from earlier running in to fight the monsters. The girl with the buzzing weapon was walking slowly forward, sweeping the barrel back and forth to kill every monster she could see. The girl with the rabbit ears stood behind her, watching him nervously. The boy with the orange sword jumped into a crowd of monsters, sweeping them away with two swings. The one in red was a blur, slicing the monsters to pieces with his twin blades.

Guts was somewhat impressed with how quickly they dispatched the remaining monsters.

As the last creature dissolved, the girl with the rabbit ears ran up to him.

"Mister, are you hurt?" she asked, looking concerned.

"What the heck Velvet, of _course_ he's hurt! Or did you not notice the giant fang sticking out of his shoulder?" said the girl with the machine- although now it was nowhere to be found and she was now holding a small bag he hadn't noticed before.

The other girl- Velvet- turned red.

Guts opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly went numb all over and collapsed. His sword fell next to him.

"Crap, the venom's getting stronger!" shouted Velvet.

The bigger boy ran over to them and gasped when he saw the dragonslayer.

"Dang, that is one huge sword!" he said.

The girl in brown smacked him across the head.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, but right now we need to get this guy some help," she said.

"We should probably call the airship for a medevac before anymore Grimm show up." said the boy in red as he walked over to where she stood.

"Right, right, give me a minute." Said the girl, pulling a rectangular device from her pocket.

Velvet knelt next to him, checking his pulse.

"Whoa," she said, "what's up with this weird tattoo?"

Her fingers brushed the brand of sacrifice on his neck.

As soon as she made contact with the brand, Guts passed out.

Velvet seemed taken aback. "Fox, Coco, this guy's passed out."

"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner," Fox replied, "given that he has King Taijitu venom in his blood.

"Will it kill him?" Yatsuhashi asked while examining the massive black sword.

"I'm pretty sure their venom is used for paralyzing prey before they eat it," Fox said, "but in any case we should get him back to the doctors in Vale."

"But dude," Velvet started, "did you see the way he fought? And what caused that explosion we heard earlier?"

"Yeah, this guy seems like a pro, can't find any kind of id on him though." Yatsuhashi said. "And check out this sword, its freaking huge!"

He lifted it up, only to drop it after a few seconds.

"Also, look at this," said Fox.

He pointed to the mystery man's left arm, which they now saw was some kind of prosthetic.

"Must be an old battle wound," Velvet said.

"Alright guys, airship's on its way. Find anything out about this guy?" Coco asked, returning to where the rest of her team stood.

"Besides he swings around a sword that I can barely life like it was nothing, has a prosthetic arm, and no kind of identification whatsoever? Nope, not a single thing." Yatsuhashi said.

"Well, I can see one thing that none of you apparently saw." Coco said, lowering her glasses.

"What's that?" asked Velvet.

Coco looked at her, grinned and said "He is _super_ hot."


	2. Chapter 2

The observation room of the operating ward was designed with comfort in mind. Paintings of vast landscapes adorned the walls, chairs with overstuffed cushions dotted the floor, a television hung from the wall, a huge table that used to be covered in various magazines was shoved to one side, and there was even a refrigerator housing all kinds of drinks.

However, Ozpin was not here to be comfortable.

He stood above where the medics were attending to their patient, the man team CFVY had brought in hours earlier. What had started out as an extermination mission turned into a rescue when they had come across this man in the wilderness. According to their report, they had discovered clues that led them to believe a large amount of Grimm were all heading in one direction- which they later deduced was caused by the man laying before him- and had gone to investigate. During one battle, the faunus Velvet had noticed the man watching them fighting Grimm. Later, Fox had come across some tracks that led them to where they found this man fighting back a horde of Grimm. When a King Taijitu had appeared and bitten the man, they were astonished to see he could still move several minutes after being bitten. However, even a man such as this seems to not be able to withstand the venom for too long.

The most interesting thing about him so far, however, was what he had carried on him. His equipment, along with his prosthetic arm, had been laid out on the table, which Glynda, never far from Ozpin's side, was using her magic to detect any unusual properties around it. On his person, he carried several throwing knives, a small bag of black powder, three small cannonballs, a repeating crossbow they had assumed could be mounted on his prosthetic arm, bolts to load into the crossbow, a black cape, black armor, and the single biggest sword they had ever seen- it was more like a giant slab of black iron. And one final, peculiar item- a white, egg-shaped trinket adorned with randomly placed facial features.

"Maybe we should call him the black swordsman until we learn his real name." Ozpin said jokingly as Glynda surveyed the equipment.

He turned back to where the operators were currently working on the swordsman's fractured ribs. During his initial bioscan, they had found numerous broken bones and several spots where he was bleeding internally. Any normal man would have died from these injuries while this one seems to have shrugged them off.

"Sir, I've finished scanning his equipment. I found several oddities you might want to know about." Glynda said.

" _Might_ want to know? Glynda, I'd like to know _everything_ about this man." Ozpin replied as he walked to where she stood, his cane beating out a rhythmic sound on the concrete floor.

"Well, for starters when they first brought him in, I detected _three_ separate auras coming from him." Glynda said, now looking over the prosthetic arm.

"Three? Well, that definitely is unusual." Ozpin said as he too looked over the sword.

"Yes, well, the first comes from the man himself of course," said Glynda, turning away from the arm, "and the second, oddly enough, comes from this trinket he was carrying." She held up the egg-shaped bauble.

Ozpin took it from her hand, rolling it over in his palm. It felt strangely warm.

"And the third?" he asked, placing the bauble back on the table.

"Well, it comes from his armor." Glynda said. She sounded almost unsure of herself.

"Does it now?" Ozpin said, turning his attention to the black armor laid out before him. It looked to be made of stacked plates of black iron, maybe the same material as the sword. However, where it lacked a helmet there was a strange pattern extruding from the back of the chest piece- it almost looked like a dog's head.

"Yes, and there was one more interesting piece of information concerning this sword," Glynda said, waving her crop over the slab of iron. "I didn't detect it at first due to the other three auras surrounding this man, but even the _sword_ has a faint aura to it as well, so faint I had to go over it five times before realizing what it was."

Ozpin returned his attention to the massive blade resting against the wall. He strode over to it, rapping it with his cane. The ringing reverberated through the room.

"Well, now I _definitely_ cannot wait until he wakes up- unless the good doctor has anything to say about it that is. What do you think Glynda?" Ozpin asked, looking back at her.

She dropped the knife she had been examining and turned towards him.

"I think it's very possible he is dangerous. We shouldn't take any chances," she replied.

"Exactly what I have been thinking. Which is why only you and I should be allowed to talk with him for now, besides his doctor that is." Ozpin said to her.

They turned back towards the viewing window, watching as the doctors continued their operation on this dark stranger.

"Dude, I'm telling you, this guy's sword was freaking huge!" Coco shouted as she, Velvet, Yang and Ruby walked down the halls of Beacon Academy.

"I'm not saying I don't believe you," Yang said, "but who could even pick up a sword that size, let alone use it?"

"This guy obviously!" Coco shouted at her. Several students turned to look at them as they passed.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." Yang said as they walked down a flight of stairs.

"What about you Ruby?" Velvet asked. "What do you think of this guy?"

"Well, I mean, it's _possible_ this guy uses a sword that big. I mean, look at me and the size of my Crescent Rose." Ruby replied.

"Well, when you put it that way Rubes, of _course_ it makes sense." Yang said. "You, a tiny little girl wielding a big scythe while a seven foot tall monster of a man wields a thousand pound sword? Makes perfect sense."

Ruby punched her sister in the back.

"Yeah, well look how strong you are! I've seen you punch through solid concrete!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, I am pretty strong aren't I?" said Yang, flexing her bicep.

"And did I mention he was, like, _super_ hot?" Coco said, grinning.

"Yeah, about a thousand times already," Ruby replied, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you think we could go see him at the hospital?" Yang asked as they entered the dining hall.

"Seriously Yang?" Ruby said.

"What's wrong with going to see him?" Yang asked innocently.

"I mean, he doesn't even know you, he's barely even seen Coco and Velvet, and they were the ones to save him." Ruby replied.

The found their seats next to Blake and Weiss.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Blake asked, looking up from her book.

"Oh, just talking about that guy we rescued earlier," Coco said, plopping down next to Weiss. "Hey, pass me that chicken will you?"

Weiss slid the plate of chicken to Coco, which she promptly began devouring.

"Velvet, what'd you think of this guy?" Weiss asked, distancing herself from Coco.

"Well, he never actually said anything. Just kind of looked at us before passing out." Velvet replied.

"Anything else about him? Anything unusual?" Blake asked, lowering her book.

"Well," Velvet began, "he had, like, this weird tattoo on his neck. No, it was actually some kind of scar."

"What did it look like?" Yang asked as she reached for a sandwich.

"Kind of like two diamonds stacked on top of each other with a line going through them," Velvet replied.

"That's weird," Blake said, "wonder what could have cut him like that?"

"Who knows," said Weiss as she fixed her own plate of food.

"Hey, Coco was talking about going to see him later. Wanna come with?" Yang said with a mouthful of sandwich.

"No," Blake said. "I really doubt he'd want to see anyone besides Coco's team."

"Told you so." said Ruby.

"What's going on guys?" asked Nora as she and the rest of team JNPR walked up to their table.

"We're going to see the guy Coco and Velvet picked up on their last mission later. You guys want to come?" asked Yang.

"You mean that supposed super hot guy that uses the gigantic sword that team CFVY picked up in the middle of the woods while they were surrounded by Grimm and this guy supposedly toughed out the venom of a King Taijitu only to cut the heads off a dozen more Grimm before finally falling? If so, then _yes_!" Nora said in an excited tone.

"Hold on Nora, you guys can't all go see him at once. I'm pretty sure the hospital only allows three people visiting in a room at one time. Besides, he'd probably only want to see team CFVY." Ren said as he sat next to Jaune, who had already started on a chicken leg. Pyrrah sat next to him.

"How many times is someone going to tell me that?!" said Yang, banging her fist on the table.

"Well, Velvet and I were the ones to pick him up so we get to see him first!" said Coco, who had finally finished her chicken.

"Actually, Yang, if you and Nora wanted to go see him I'd be fine with staying behind and going later." Velvet said.

"That sounds like a great idea Velvet, thanks." said Yang.

"Guys, seriously, has it crossed your mind that he might not even _want_ to see anybody? What if he has family there?" Pyrrah asked from across the table.

Yang growled as she spoke.

"Well, if he _does_ have family there, then we'll say we're his friends! I'm sure he'll want to thank me for rescuing him and all anyway." Coco said.

"Coco, you hardly did anything besides call the airship. I doubt he even saw you." said Velvet.

"Hey, it's because of _me_ we could even get him onto the ship! He weighed, like, a metric ton with his armor, not to mention that sword." Coco said back at her.

"So, when are we going to see him?" Nora asked excitedly.

Velvet, Ruby, and Pyrrah exchanged looks.

Guts didn't have the chance to dream very often. Usually his nights were spent killing various monstrosities, while days were spent travelling. Out of everyone that had been in his group, he always seemed to get the least amount of sleep.

Not that he minded, given the nightmares.

It was always the same thing, or at least some kind of variation: reliving the events of the Eclipse, where every friend he had ever had was eaten alive by a horde of demons. Griffith stood above them all with that cold, expressionless look as he watched his comrades being slaughtered. Eventually his gaze would turn to Guts, and then he would smile. Then Casca would float up to where Griffith stood and-

Guts woke up.

His eye was closed as he thought about the dream. It always ended their, as if his brain didn't want to remember the horrors of the past. As he lay there, he suddenly became aware of several things at once: he was laying propped up on a rather comfortable bed, he felt bandages covering his midsection and shoulder, there was something over his missing right eye, and a steady _beep, beep, beep,_ coming from his right.

He opened his eye to see the strangest sight so far in this world. He lay on a white bed in an almost completely white room. Light shone down from the ceiling, seemingly coming from incredibly bright, hanging candles. To his left was an alcove in the wall housing a mirror and a metal pipe, along with some chairs near the door. On his right was some contraption that had several tubes and wires leading from it to various points on his body, and a darkened window on the far wall. He attempted to reach up and pull them out when he saw his prosthetic arm was missing. As he examined the contraption on his right he heard the door open.

"Oh, you're awake I see. Good, very good." said a voice from his left.

A man stood there wearing black shoes, black pants, a black button up jacket and a green scarf. Dark glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. The man appeared to be in his forty's, however his hair was completely gray. He held a cane in his right hand.

Guts turned his head to look this new man in the eye.

"Where am I?" he asked, the words coming out as a whisper. He cleared his throat and asked again, this time speaking a bit louder.

"A very good question, but first I would like to ask you some questions of my own." Said the man, dragging a chair next to the bed.

"Why don't you tell me your name first?" said Guts as the man sat down.

"I could ask you the same, but since you said it first, my name is Ozpin." he replied.

"….Guts."

"Well then Guts, my first question is: where are you from?" Ozpin asked, leaning forward.

"Does it really matter?" Guts replied.

"Yes, actually, it does. Seeing as you carried several oddities on your person when we brought you in. This, for example." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Behelit, dangling from a string.

Guts jumped up in his bed, reaching for the Behelit. As Ozpin was sitting on his left and his prosthetic arm was missing, he couldn't twist far enough to grab it.

"Where did you get that?!" Guts roared as he struggled up.

"Calm down, here you go." said Ozpin as he tossed it towards him.

Guts reached out and caught it, examining the features of the Behelit. He barely noticed one of the eyes snap shut.

"Care to tell me what that is, and why it means so much to you?" Ozpin asked, leaning back in his chair.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." said Guts, never taking his eye off of the Behelit. "Where did you find this?"

"It was hanging off of your belt when we brought you here, along with the rest of your equipment." Ozpin replied.

"And where is the rest of my stuff?" Guts asked as he curled his hand around the Behelit. He was one hundred percent sure he didn't have the Behelit with him when he first awoke in the forest.

"I took the liberty of having you armor and weapons sent to be cleaned and repaired by our best blacksmith." Ozpin said.

"And what about my arm?" Guts said.

"It is being cleaned up here in this facility. I must say, having a cannon hidden inside of a prosthetic arm is quite nice for fighting bigger monsters," Ozpin said, "as long as it doesn't dislocate your shoulder."

"Now I need you to tell me something very important." Ozpin leaned forward. "Why does this… Behelit, your armor, and your sword have an aura?"

"Aura? The hell is that?" Guts said.

Ozpin said nothing, staring intently at Guts' face. Guts met his gaze unwavering.

"Aura is… the energy all living things have. Everything, that is, except the Grimm." Ozpin said.

 _"Sounds kind of like that Od stuff Schierke is always going on about."_ Guts thought.

"If you don't know what Aura is, I'd assume you didn't know the monsters you were fighting were called Grimm either?"

"…No"

"Well, now I know for certain- you are not from my world." Ozpin said, smiling.

"Do you find it funny that I'm not?" Guts asked.

"Not at all, just rather amusing." Ozpin replied. In fact, he had just come up with a plan to put this stranger to good use, but first he would need to know Guts' true capabilities.

"Guts, I have a proposition for you," Ozpin began, "If you help me with my problems, I will do everything in my power to send you home."

 _"Casca…"_

"What do I need to do?" Guts said.

Ozpin's smile widened. "I'm glad you asked. You see Guts, I have a team of powerful people working together against the forces that drive the darkness in this world. I'd like you to be a part of it."

"And what would I have to do as part of your team?"

"For now you would stay at my school to help guard against anyone trying to harm my students. You would have free range of the campus and you wouldn't have to pay for anything. I will also find someone to teach you about this world's technological advancements." Ozpin said.

"Okay. What else?" Guts asked.

"When the time comes, I need you to be able to defend this city and my school with all of your might. Can I count on you to do that Guts?"

He nodded and said "You seem to be taking the fact I'm not from here very well Ozpin."

"I could say the same to you Guts." Ozpin replied.

"Yeah, but where I'm from, I've seen things you would never believe."

"I believe we have more in common than I first thought."

Ozpin stood and extended his right hand. Guts clasped it and realized this man was much stronger than he appeared to be.

After Ozpin left, Guts sighed and laid back. He felt like it would be a long time before he saw his group again.

Ozpin closed the door behind him, checking to make sure the lock was in place before moving on. Guts' room lay at the far end of the hospital's isolation ward. Glynda was waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

"So what do you think of him?" she asked as they began to walk towards the elevator.

"I believe he will make a strong ally… or a powerful enemy. And we don't need any more of those around, so let's try and keep him on our good side shall we?" Ozpin replied.

"Speaking of keeping him on our good side, a few students came by here earlier to try and see him." Glynda said.

"Let me guess, Coco Adel and…."

"Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie."

"Hm. What did you say to them?" Ozpin asked.

"They never got this far," Glynda said, "the staff at the desk turned them away immediately when they asked about him."

"Guts. His name is Guts." Ozpin said as the elevator door dinged open.

"That's quite the odd name." Glynda replied as the doors closed.

They stood silent for a moment, then:

"Glynda, did you sense the darkness in him?" Ozpin asked in a low voice.

"I did." she said, glancing at him sideways.

"And what do you think of it?"

"I think we should be on guard no matter what he does." she replied as the elevator doors opened. They stepped off the elevator, only to be greeted by the sight of the three girls from earlier talking to the nurse at the front desk.

"What do you mean I can't see him now?!" said the one in front- Coco. "It was my team that rescued him, I should at least get some recognition from that!"

"And you will my dear." said Ozpin as they approached.

"Professor Ozpin!" Yang said loudly, sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we were just taking a stroll and decided to drop in and see how that special patient is doing." Ozpin replied.

"You mean the guy Coco's team picked up?" Nora asked.

"That's the one," said Ozpin, smiling. "He's not quite ready for visitors. However if you wish to see and talk to him, I would ask that you wait at least a few more days when he is finally released from the hospital."

"But won't he be gone by then?" Coco asked, sounding disappointed.

"Actually, I convinced him to stay here for a while. You might even see him around school some days." replied Ozpin. Coco immediately perked up.

"Wow, really? What's he going to be doing?" Yang asked.

"Just some extra muscle I hired in case the White Fang decide to show their faces between here and the Vytal festival." Ozpin said.

"Oh, okay. That sounds fun." said Nora.

"Don't you girls have homework that needs doing? Go along now, get going." Glynda said.

The three girls walked away, whispering to each other.

"Sir, is it really a wise decision to be telling them about Guts right now?" Glynda asked.

"Call it a spur of the moment idea, Glynda." Ozpin said.

She gave him a concerned look as they exited the hospital.

" _Ozpin_ hired _him_ for security? That'll be fun to watch." Coco Adel exclaimed while she, Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie sat around a table drinking cups of coffee outside a café.

"If he lives up to what you said about him that will be _very_ exciting to see." Yang said.

Across the street, Emerald listened in on their conversation. She and Mercury were out looking for a place to eat when they happened upon the three girls talking about the man team CFVY had found in the middle of the forest. So far, she didn't like what she heard.

"Merc, do you know if Cinder knows about this new guy?" Emerald said as Mercury devoured a sandwich.

He swallowed before saying "I'm sure she does, but so what if she doesn't? It's not like one guy could ruin our plans."

"Sure, you may say that, but what if what that Coco girl is saying isn't some fanciful story? What if he really did kill all those Grimm by himself?" she said quietly.

"Well," Mercury began with a mouthful of sandwich, "if it is true, then we'll tell Cinder about it and she can take care of him herself."

"Yeah, but how can we be sure about it?" Emerald asked.

"Easy, let's just go talk to him. Use your semblance, make him think we're Ozpin and that woman who's always with him, and make him talk."

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked, "It's basically guaranteed that if we say anything too suspicious he'll ask Ozpin about it later and then everyone will figure out what I can do. Isn't my semblance remaining a secret the biggest part to Cinder's plan?"

"Okay, how about this," Mercury said, waving his sandwich at her, "You cast us as some nurses, we go in, ask some questions, it'll all be good."

"I think we should go over it with Cinder first, no matter what we do." Emerald said, folding her arms.

"Okay, fine. Hey I gotta go to the little boy's room, give me a minute before we leave."

She nodded while he walked away. It was only a few minutes later when the waitress came by with their bill when she realized what he really had in mind. She paid the bill and found him waiting down the street, leaning against a street lamp. He smiled when he spotted her.

"Hey, what took you so long?"

That night, Guts lay awake staring at the ceiling. The doctor had come in earlier to give him a report of his injuries: four broken ribs and internal bleeding. Those were what he had gotten from the earlier fight, however the man had also said that they cleaned out what remained of his missing eye and also disinfected his prosthetic arm as well as providing fresh wrappings for his stump. They had offered him an eyepatch and a new arm, but he had refused both. The missing eye he felt had some kind of symbolic meaning to him, and he wouldn't want Rickert's hard work going to waste. Besides, he liked having the cannon inside his arm. After they had returned the prosthetic he had immediately re-attached it, feeling almost vulnerable without the arm.

He reached up with his right hand to rub the brand on his neck. They had washed away the seal from it when they had operated on him. Although while in this world, he doubted he'd need it. He'd just have Schierke write it back on when he returned home and-

" _GUTS!"_ shouted a voice in his head.

" _Schireke?"_ Guts thought.

" _Oh thank god! Guts, where are you? I leave for a second and come back and then you're gone!"_ Schireke said in his mind.

" _What do you mean a second? I've been gone for at least a day!"_

" _A day? ….Oh no, are you stuck in the Qliphoth?"_

" _What, no, no. I'm in another world entirely. Do you know how I ended up here?"_ Guts replied.

" _I had left to check on Casca when I felt a burst of magic coming from where I left you, and when I came back you were gone!"_ Schireke said to him.

" _What about when I said I've been here for at least a full day?"_

" _Well, time moves differently in different realms. Maybe you ended up in one where time moves much more quickly."_ she responded.

" _But I said I'm not in the Qliphoth. It's a different world entirely. Is Casca okay?"_ Guts asked.

" _Yes, she's fine. But right now our biggest problem is getting you back here. Have you seen any other traces of magic where you're at?"_

" _Plenty of other strange things, but no magic so far."_

" _Dammit… alright, I'll work out a way to get you back. We'll be in touch later, but for right now don't-"_

"Mr… Guts was it?" someone said to his left.

Schireke's magic broke as two nurses entered his room. One was holding a clipboard, the other held a small box at his side.

"What do you want?" Guts asked, gathering his thoughts from his conversation with Schireke. The sudden break in contact had left his mind reeling. _"What did she want to tell me?"_

"We just need to confirm some things we were told by the other staff for Ozpin. Is it true you were fighting a hoard of Grimm by yourself when team CFVY found you?" asked the nurse with the clipboard.

He assumed this was the group name of the people in the woods. "Yes. And?"

"And could you tell us what the explosion they heard before you were found was?"

"Explosion?" _Hadn't they already seen the cannon in his arm?_ "It was my sword knocking down a tree." _Why not mess with them a little?_

"Really? That's some impressive strength. Just one more thing- is it true that an Aura was detected around your armor?" asked the second nurse.

"Didn't we already go over this? I don't know what this Aura thing is. And yes, Ozpin did say something about that." As he spoke, the first nurse came around and adjusted something on the contraption attached to his good arm.

"Okay, thank you for your time. Have a good night." The two nurses departed his room.

When he heard the door click, he sighed and turned over, his medication finally sending him to sleep. They'd had to give him a triple dose, at least that's what he heard the doctor muttering about earlier.

As his eyes closed, the last image in his mind was one of his group- Schireke, Puck, Isidro, Farnese, Serpico and Casca all sitting around a camp fire.

Emerald had let the illusion dissolve when the door locked back into place. It amused her that they would even lock his door in the first place, given the nature of his strength.

"So what do you think?" Mercury said as they entered the elevator.

"Oh, I'm sure Cinder will love to hear more about him." Emerald said as she twirled the odd egg shaped bauble around her finger.


	3. Chapter 3

_"How do all of Weiss's shopping trips end up like this?"_ Ruby thought as she walked the streets of Vale. She had convinced Weiss to take her along on this shopping trip, but now Weiss had somehow disappeared. Sometimes Ruby had a feeling Weiss wasn't always excited when she came along. As she walked, she noticed there were many more people than usual, mostly due to the Vytal Festival. Her team would be the first one to fight in the main event of the Festival, along with whoever they were facing. The thought of it gave her butterflies in her stomach.

She thought of calling Yang or Blake to come walk with her but held off in case she ended up finding where Weiss had gone. Besides, they were off training for the first round, which would take place a week from today. Weiss, however, had felt this would be a perfect time for new clothes. Ruby had wanted to join her to try and get rid of her nerves, but so far things had remained the same. _"Well, maybe I can scout out some of the competition while I'm here,"_ Ruby thought. So far though, she hadn't seen anyone who looked like they might be participating in the battles to come. As she rounded the street corner, she walked full on into someone going the opposite direction.

Ruby backed, apologizing. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you there!"

She looked up at the strangers face. He was at least six feet tall with all black hair, except for a white streak on the left side. He wore a black t-shirt, black pants and black boots. At his waist was a belt which carried several pouches and empty straps. The man squinted down at her as she apologized.

"I wasn't looking where I was going, I lost my friend and- whoa, that's a cool arm." Ruby had finally noticed his prosthetic. The man said nothing, only continued to watch her. It was then she realized he had kept his right eye shut tightly.

"Are you… missing an eye?" she asked hesitantly.

The man turned and began to walk away.

"Hey wait!" Ruby shouted, running up to him. "I'm sorry for being rude."

The man stopped and turned back to her. "Is there something you want?" he asked gruffly.

"What? No, only… have you seen a girl wearing a white skirt with and has a really pale face around here?" Ruby asked.

"No."

"Oh, okay." she glanced at the ground before looking back up and saying "By the way, my name's Ruby. What's yours? Are you here for the festival?"

The man pondered her for a second before saying "Guts. And yeah, I guess I'm here for this so called festival."

"Guts? What does that mean? …..Oh, that's your _name_?" Ruby asked, surprised.

"Yeah, that's my name." he replied.

"Oh, well, that's… interesting. So are you fighting in the tournament or…?"

"I was hired for security."

"Really? I thought the Atlesian military was for here for that." Ruby said, looking up at a passing Atlas airship.

"They wanted more muscle I guess." Guts replied. He began to walk away.

"Wait, if you're here for security, where's your weapon?" Ruby asked.

"My weapon? I have to go pick it up from the blacksmith." Guts said.

"Can I see it?" she asked excitedly.

"Why would you want to?" Guts asked as he walked. _"What is this girl's problem?"_

Ruby had to jog to keep up with his pace. "Well, I guess you could say I'm kind of a weapons fanatic."

"Hmm."

"So can I see it then?" she asked again

"….sure." Guts replied. _"Now why did I agree?"_

"Awesome! So what is it? What does it turn into? Does it do anything _really_ cool?" Ruby asked quickly, getting more excited.

"Turn into?" Guts said. _"Oh right, this world has weapons that can change shape."_

He shrugged and said "It's just a greatsword. Nothing… _really_ special to it. I also have a repeating crossbow I can mount on my prosthetic arm."

"Ooooohhh, interesting. Kind of old fashioned though. Does a crossbow even work on a Grimm?"

"If it didn't I probably wouldn't be here right now." Guts said.

They were separated by a crowd of people before Ruby managed to catch up with him again.

"So who are you rooting for in the festival? It's Beacon right? Please tell me it's Beacon!"

"Uhhhh… Sure. I'm rooting for Beacon."

"Yay! My team is representing Beacon! In fact we're in first battle of the festival!" Ruby exclaimed.

Guts was silent as Ruby gushed on about all the different schools and people that were attending. _"She talks almost as much as Puck."_

When they were finally in sight of the blacksmith, Guts turned to Ruby and asked "Have you seen anyone wearing a necklace with an egg shaped bauble attached to it?"

"Egg shaped? No, not that I can remember."

He nodded.

"I'm going to wait outside in case I see my friend." Ruby said as Guts entered the shop.

As Guts pushed open the door, a bell chimed. The inside of the shop was sparsely decorated, with only a few chairs along one wall and a counter where a man stood. The man wore an apron stained black with charcoal and had a gruff look to his face. There was another open door to the man's right. When Guts walked to the counter the man said "You Ozpin's guy?"

Guts nodded, and the man disappeared into the door where the sound of clinking metal could be heard. He returned a minute later carrying Guts' repeating crossbow as well as a fresh quiver of bolts. "Here's you bow. I replaced the string and cleaned out the firing mechanism. Gotta say, I really like the design to it. Whoever made it really knew what they were doing."

Guts nodded as he hooked the crossbow and quiver onto his belt. "My sword and armor?" he asked.

The man pointed with his thumb and said "They're out back. Your damn sword is way too heavy, don't see how you could even carry that thing, let alone swing it around. Boy's just finishing up cleaning the armor as well."

Guts followed the smith through the door, down a hallway and outside into a large pavilion. It was littered with all kinds of tools and works in progress. The floor was covered in a layer of fine metal shavings. Near the far wall sat a young man looking over the berserker armor, an oilcloth in hand. As Guts and the smith approached the boy turned around and gestured at the armor. "That's a nice piece you got there, mind telling me who made it?"

"Shut up boy and finish your work. Don't need to be bothering this man with your silly words." The boy fell silent and turned back to the armor. The smith led Guts to a long bench on which lay the dragonslayer. It had been polished to a sheen.

"I fixed a few nicks on the edges, replaced the wrappings on the hilt and gave the whole thing a good scrub." the smith said as Guts examined the blade. "On the armor, had the boy scrub it all over with a toothbrush before the polishing. I'm surprised there was hardly even a scratch on the stuff after hearing how you fought off all those Grimm. Musta been some master smith put that together for you. Honestly I rather enjoyed working on your gear, it's nice to see people who use more old fashioned ways of killing those beasts."

Guts lifted the dragonslayer, glad to have its familiar weight back in his hands. He swung the blade to rest on his shoulder before turning to examine the armor. It had also been freed of dirt and grime, and seemed to absorb all the light around it.

"Alright sir, thanks for coming. And of course, this has all been paid for by the headmaster himself, so no extra charge for you." Said the smith as Guts ran his good hand over the armor. The metal was cool to the touch. He leaned the dragonslayer against the wall and removed his shirt.

"Uh, are you putting that stuff on right now? I wouldn't recommend it, given how hot it is-"

"I'll be fine." Guts said as he loosened his belt.

"Well, alright then. Boy, come and help me with this." said the smith as a bell rang from inside the store.

The smith and his assistant left as Guts donned the berserker armor. Even with the evil presence lurking inside, Guts felt much better now that he had it back. He strapped on his belt and picked up the dragonslayer. _"I wonder if that Ruby girl actually waited for me?"_ he thought as he walked back down the hallway. When he came back to the front desk there were several more people waiting in line to pick up their own weapons. Most turned to look at him and the sword he was carrying, some whispering to each other as they did. Guts shoved passed them and walked out of the store back out to the busy streets of Vale.

Ruby was nowhere to be found.

 _"Must have found her friend after all."_ Guts thought as he walked down the street. He had been granted an apartment in between the city and the school, which he had yet to visit. He was waiting to hear from Ozpin before he took a ship up to the school even though he had been granted full access to the main campus. The reason he had not gone to see it yet was so he could focus on finding his way around the much larger city of Vale. And the search for his Behelit.

As he walked, he kept an eye out for anyone that might be wearing the thing. It would be a long shot to see anybody out in the open with it, but he didn't want to take any chances. Earlier he had considered telling Ozpin about it, but that would lead to more questions Guts didn't want to answer. Besides, he highly doubted Ozpin would agree with what he had in mind for whoever stole it from him.

Many of the people he passed gave him a sideways look, a few even stopped outright and stared at him. Even in this world of fantastic weapons, one such as his still held the attention. It was a certain kind of attention, however, he was becoming more aware of the longer he walked.

Someone was following him.

He first noticed it when he left the blacksmith's. A woman in green had been reading a book just outside the door when he left. After waiting a few seconds she began following him for several blocks. When they reached a certain intersection, Guts had glanced behind him to see the woman brush a man on the arm. It appeared to be accidental at first, but then he had noticed her glance at him while the man barely nodded. After another few blocks the man- who wore a silver and black jacket- stopped next to another woman wearing a dark grey jacket and black pants. The man stopped to talk to her for a second before moving on- Guts didn't hear what he had said. He did notice, however, that the woman strayed to the right when she began following him- the side where his eye was missing. He laughed in his head, thinking _"Seriously? Do they think I'm completely blind?"_ By now the sun had set and the darkness was settling in.

He entered the park that lay in front of the apartments, going over how he would handle these people if they chose to fight him.

Emerald was going over the plan in her head when she saw Weiss Schnee enter a building across the street. _"Typical rich girl."_ she thought when she noticed it was a clothing store. She continued mulling over Cinder's words until she came to the blacksmith- just in time to see Guts walk into the building while- _"What is SHE doing with him?"_ Emerald thought when she saw Ruby Rose. She considered turning around until Ruby saw her and waved. _"Perfect."_ she thought as she walked over to her.

"Ruby! Hi, how are you?" Emerald asked, trying to hold back the annoyance in her voice.

"I'm doing awesome actually! Weiss and I were out shopping when I lost her, I went looking for her and I ran into this guy who said he's doing security for the Vytal Festival then I asked if I could see his weapons and he said they were in the shop so I tagged along to-"

"Hey Ruby, I just saw Weiss the next block over, actually." Emerald said, interrupting her. Whenever Ruby opened her mouth, Emerald could feel her brain cells being killed off one by one.

"Really? But Guts said-" Ruby began.

"Hey, what does he look like? I'll tell him here you went when he comes out." Emerald said. _"Please just shut up"_

"Really? Thanks! Okay, he's about six feet tall and-"

As she described him, Emerald screamed internally.

"Alright, I better catch up to Weiss! See you later Emerald!" Ruby said as she ran up the street.

"Bye!" Emerald replied, waving. When Ruby wasn't looking, she curled her hand into a fist. _"God I hate that girl."_ she thought.

She pulled a book out of her bag and leaned up against the wall of the blacksmith, pretending to read.

After several minutes, Guts emerged from the blacksmith wearing black armor and carrying-

 _"Holy crap, they weren't kidding about that sword."_ It was almost as tall as he was and looked like it weighed an actual ton.

Guts looked around- _"Probably looking for Ruby"_ \- before turning away to walk down the street the opposite direction Ruby had gone, which Emerald counted as a blessing. After a few seconds Emerald stowed her book away and began to follow him. She tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, stopping to look at window displays every now and again. After a few blocks she spotted Mercury outside of a cafe chatting to a waiter. As she walked past, she made sure brush his arm, briefly glancing at him as she did so. He gave the slightest of nods, never breaking eye contact with the waiter, as Emerald entered the café. The plan was for her to wait a few more minutes before running to their meeting point near where Guts was currently living. There she would meet Mercury and hide in the shadows to make sure Cinder didn't need any help with him.

 _"It's Cinder, she doesn't need help with anyone."_ Emerald thought.

After her time was up she left the café and rounded the block the opposite way she had first come. She walked as fast as she could before spotting a taxi. She waved it down and gave the driver directions to the park outside Guts' apartment.

After arriving she gave the driver an illusion of money, making sure he opened and closed his bag before releasing the false image. As he drove off, she checked back several times to make sure he wasn't turning around.

She ran to where she and Mercury were supposed to meet, only-

"Where have you been?" said a voice to her right.

She almost jumped but then realized it was Mercury. He was hanging by his legs from a branch of the tree she was standing under. "So how'd it go?" she asked as her heart beat settle.

"Okay I guess. Pretty sure he didn't notice me." Mercury replied as he shrugged. He swung himself up onto the branch before dropping down to stand next to Emerald. "Is this the place we're supposed to meet her?"

"Yes. She said I need to make it seem like we're not here while she speaks to him."

"And if things go south?" Mercury asked, leaning against the tree.

"Same thing as we did with Amber- although this time no power transfer and more killing."

"To bad," Mercury said, "I'd really like to use that sword of his."

"Shut up!" Emerald said as she crouched down. "I see him."

Mercury gazed up the trail where he saw Guts walking towards them. A ways behind him, Cinder moved through the shadows cast by the lamps.

"And here we go." whispered Mercury as he crouched next to Emerald.

 _"All right, enough with these games."_ Guts thought. He halted his movement just outside the pool of light given off by a lamp.

"If you have something to say to me, then say it." Guts said while looking straight forward. "I don't want to play around anymore."

"So you noticed then? Rather perceptive of you I'd say." the woman behind him said.

Guts turned to face her.

She wore the same outfit as earlier, only now Guts could make out her features. She had long dark hair over half of her face. Her exposed eye was a deep amber color.

"So what is it then? I'm tired and want to take a bath." Guts said roughly.

"I was only interested in what you're doing here in Vale. You seem rather out of place here-"

"Quit with the bullshit." Guts interrupted. "If that was it you could have asked me on the street instead of having me followed."

She was silent for a moment before saying "Fine, I'll admit. I'm a recruiter from Haven. I work for a special group of people that have taken an interest in you and would like to know more."

"More about me? Where I'm from? Or is it how I fight? If you're one of the higher ups you would have heard how I was found. If you think the reports are wrong then that's not my problem." Guts responded.

"Oh I personally don't doubt the reports at all. I was just sent by people who did." she said.

"Are you looking to fight me lady?" he asked, reaching to grasp the sword on his back. "Don't think I'll hold back when there are people around."

"Sir, I promise you." the woman said, unfazed by his sword. "I am just here to ask questions on behalf of my peers."

Guts studied her for a moment before responding "Alright then, ask away."

"Thank you," she replied. She also noticed his hand did not move from his blade.

"Now, first question: are you from around Vale? Or maybe an entirely different continent?"

"Let's go with the latter." Guts replied.

"Okay, how about this: just for clarification, is it true team CFVY found you bitten by a King Taijitu? And what were you doing before that?"

"Yeah, I was bitten. Messed me right the hell up. And before they found me I was wandering the woods."

"And why were you wandering the woods?" she asked.

Guts thought for a moment before saying "I got lost."

"Got lost? Were you staying in a nearby village and wandered off?"

"…No." he responded.

"Well that certainly clears it up, doesn't it?" she said, smiling.

"Anything else you want to know?"

"Just one last thing: will you be participating in the tournament?"

"Are _you_ going to be in it?" Guts responded.

"Actually yes. My team is going to be in the second match of the first day." she said.

"Hm… no, I'm just here for security."

"Well that's all I have for you mister Guts. Thank you for your time." she turned to leave.

"Hey." Guts called out. Aren't you going to try and recruit me?"

She turned back to him and said "Not today. I must first take our conversation to my superiors before they decide on whether to recruit you or not."

"Tell them to mind their own business next time they want to talk to me." Guts replied.

"Of course." she said, smiling. "Goodnight sir."

Once she was out of sight Guts released his sword and turned towards the park exit.

"Recruitment my ass." he muttered.

"Cinder, he didn't believe a word you said."

Emerald and Mercury hitched a ride back to Beacon's dormitory to speak with Cinder after her meeting with Guts.

"Really Emerald? What gave it away? Maybe the 'recruitment my ass' part?" Mercury said as he lounged in a chair.

"Shut up Mercury! Cinder, what if he decides to go to Ozpin about this?" Emerald said.

"Don't worry, he won't." Cinder said as she rummaged through her desk.

"But how can you be so sure?" Emerald replied.

"Because, Emerald, I've seen men like this before. We don't need to worry about him going to Ozpin."

"But _why_?"

"He will try and figure me out himself first. But we won't give him the chance. Neither of you go near him again, at least until after the festival. We have to make absolutely sure he does not know who we are or where we are based. Even Ozpin never thought to look right under his nose for us, what makes you think this man will?"

Emerald plopped down on the bed, sighing.

"Alright. Then what can we do with that necklace I snatch from him?"

Cinder pulled the bauble from her desk. She had been examining it earlier when she noticed one of the eyes watching her. Since then she hadn't been able to make it do anything else. It seemed impervious to all attempts to break it open, and it even generated an Aura.

"I'll have to ask my employer about it later." Cinder said as she examined the egg-shaped thing. "But for now, let's just focus on the tasks at hand."

"And did you guys see that scar on his neck? It was weird man." Mercury said.

"Didn't the notes at the hospital say they had washed some kind of writing off of his skin around the scar?" Emerald ask.

Cinder replied "Yes, it might be worth looking in to later."

Mercury yawned and stretched.

"Well, I'm done for the day. Good night all." he said as he walked out the door.

"You turn in as well Emerald. We have several busy days ahead of us until the festival arrives."

Emerald nodded and left.

As the door snapped shut behind her, Cinder rose to gaze at the moon shining down on the campus of Beacon. A fountain splashed, birds flew and trees waved in the wind.

It would be incredible to see how it all looked after the festival.

Hidden in her palm, the Behelit grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out, Guts hated flying.

He had only flown once before, and that didn't turn out to well for his health. The day he finally decided to step onto an airship had been the day after the woman claiming to be a recruiter for another kingdom had spoken to him. At first he had thought of telling Ozpin about it, but changed his mind when he decided he should take care of it himself. Besides, if she wasn't working for anyone to high up, she wouldn't be missed if she suddenly disappeared. Not that Guts had any intention of killing her- he just figured if he got the woman cornered she would put up a fight and then he just might end up killing her anyway. He tended to not hold back during a fight.

The reason he entered the airship was that he had received a call from an anonymous source asking for him to come to the school and meet them. Usually he would ignore such requests, but since his encounter the night previously he really, really wanted to fight something. So he found the earliest flight he could before donning his equipment and setting out. He realized his mistake after the airship had already taken off and he started feeling sick.

 _"Never again."_ he thought as he retched out a window for the third time. The other passengers had long vacated this section of the ship.

When they finally landed, Guts took a moment to regain his composure before stepping off. This was his first time seeing the academy up closed. So far, he was mildly impressed.

The airship docks hung over a lake that lay on the east edge of Vale. Extending out from the docks was a road leading straight to the base of a large, illuminated tower. On either side of the tower were the buildings that made up Beacon's main campus. The entire sight was quite extraordinary. He walked down the main path, getting looks from others in the crowd. He ignored them as he walked. The message had said to meet at the fountain in front of the school, which lay at the end of the path. It wouldn't be Ozpin, he had told Guts if he needed anything to come to the top of the main tower. Therefore it must have been-

"Hellooooo!" shouted an slightly female voice to his right. He turned to see who it was-

-and almost immediately regretted coming.

The one who invited him turned out to be the ones who found him in the forest. The same four people- the two women, one wearing all brown and the one with the ears as well as the two men, one wearing green armor and the one in red. He wondered if they wore they all wore the exact same thing every day. Of course, he did only wear the berserker armor.

The team of four walked towards him, the leader seeming giddy while the rest seemed slightly unnerved at the sight of him.

"So your name is Guts right? Nice to finally meet you for real! My name's Coco and this is team CFVY!" she extended her right hand. On her left hung the handbag Guts had seen before.

"Hi." Guts muttered. He didn't extend his own hand. _"How does she know my name?"_

The girl glanced at her arm then lowered it. "Well, uh… this is Yatsuhashi, Fox, and Velvet." She said, indicated the one in armor, in red, and the one with ears respectively. The Long eared one waved hesitantly.

"Is there something you need from me?" Guts asked.

"Well, uh, we just wanted to see how you were doing. Are you getting along fine in Vale?" she asked.

"…Yes." Guts glanced at the girl with rabbit ears again.

"Have you never seen a faunus before?" Coco asked, glancing at Velvet. Velvet turned red and looked away.

"I've seen them in the city several times. Just never up close." He had been informed of the existence of this race that lived alongside humans in this world… also how it was mostly faunus that made up the terrorist group known as the White Fang.

"Come on Velvet, say hi!" Coco said, pushing her forward.

Velvet stared at her feet as she mumbled "…He-hello."

Guts looked at Coco and said "Is there any real reason you wanted me out here?"

Coco seemed taken aback. "Well, I mean-"

Yatsuhashi stepped forward. "Hey man, you could at least thank us."

"For what?" Guts asked, turning his attention to the man.

Yatsuhashi stepped closer. "For saving your god damn life, that's what!"

Guts pondered him for a moment before saying "I suppose you're right. Thanks."

Yatsuhashi stepped back, crossing his arms.

"Hey Guts," Coco said, breaking the silence, "would you mind showing us some some of those moves you used on the Grimm?"

"What mean?" Guts asked.

"Well, team CFVY is participating in the tournament in a few days. We were wondering if you could teach us some moves." she replied, looking hopeful.

 _"Well, I did want to fight something."_ he thought. "Are there Grimm I can use nearby?"

"Actually, we were thinking something… different." Coco replied, lowering her glasses.

The sparring field was nearly empty. It was housed in a dome shaped building next to the mess hall. Guts was glad to see these kids had the sense to not show off their fighting skills before a big tournament. Apparently, however, team CFVY was confident enough that they could win even if they did show off their skills.

Or they were just stupid.

A woman in wearing a purple cape stood off to the side of the arena. When she saw them enter she strode over to where they stood. She looked Guts over before turning to Coco and saying "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Even if your opponents are watching you fight?" she gestured to the stands, which Guts saw now held several more people than it did earlier.

"Of _course,_ Professor. It'll be fun!"

Coco led them to the center of the stage. "Alright, so how do you want to do this? One at a time or all at once?" she asked Guts.

"Are you joking? Do you _want_ to die? Even if _do_ hold back the weight of my sword just might kill you." he responded.

"Don't worry, we'll use our Auras to guard against serious damage. Plus we have Professor Goodwitch here in case anything goes wrong." she replied, looking amused. "It'll be practice for what we do in the festival."

The woman- Goodwitch- looked slightly amused.

"I don't even know how to use an Aura." Guts said.

"Eh, I'm sure you're armor will protect you well enough."

The woman- Goodwitch- walked back to the side of the arena. "In addition to your Auras, I'll put up an extra shield around you as well for added protection." she said, eyeing Guts' sword.

"Alrighty then! Everyone take their positions!" Coco exclaimed.

Guts walked to opposite side of the arena. When he turned back to face his opponents, he noticed Velvet had pulled out a camera. "Where's your weapon?" he asked, gesturing to her.

"Velvet won't be joining in. She's only here to take pictures." Fox said.

Velvet nodded and raised her camera.

 _"Interesting."_ Guts thought. He grasped the hilt of the dragonslayer with his right hand, raising his left in a ready position.

Coco's handbag began to change shape until it became the minigun she used. _"So that's where she keeps it."_ Guts thought, chuckling to himself. Yatsuhashi and Fox drew their own weapons. At this point Guts looked up again and saw the number of people watching had grown to about a dozen.

The scoreboard above them now showed their respective Aura levels.

Glynda raised her arm. "Three, two, one… begin!" she said, swiping the air.

It was over in about three minutes.

As soon as Glynda said go, Coco began laying down suppressing fire on Guts while Yatsuhashi and Fox moved to attack him from both sides. Guts had obviously anticipated this, for he had drawn his massive sword in an instant, holding it in front of him to block Coco's fire. As Fox moved in to his left, Guts quickly reached to his belt to draw a knife, which he threw with extreme precision into the rotating barrel of the minigun. It hit right at the base of the shaft, jamming it for a moment. The minute Coco stopped firing and looked to see what had happened, Fox made his first swing. Guts caught it on his prosthetic arm, deflecting the blow. He then gave Fox a hard jab in the ribs with his metal elbow, sending Fox to the ground as he gasped for breathe. By this point Yatsuhashi had raised his sword for the first blow on Guts' right, but his strike was also deflected, this time by Guts' own greatsword. As Yatsuhashi recovered, Guts kicked out at Fox to send him flying across the arena. He then whirled, the dragonslayer almost a blur. Yatsuhashi stumbled back as he deflected the blow, turning his sword to that the dragonslayer reflected off of it rather than hit it full on- a direct blow might have cracked or even broken the weapon in half. By now Coco pulled the knife out of her gun and resumed firing. Guts brought up the dragonslayer to block her shots while he dodged around Yatsuhashi's next swing. In the corner of his eye Guts saw Fox running towards him. He took the dragonslayer in both hands and with all his strength he thrust it into the ground. The floor rumbled as he did. Ducking behind his makeshift shield, he grabbed the crossbow from its holster.

As Fox bore down on him from the left and Yatsuhashi from the right, Guts twisted so that Yatsuhashi was in front of him. He brought up his metal fist into Yatsuhashi's stomach, driving him back. His sword just clipped Guts' shoulder. As Guts whirled to face Fox, he slapped the crossbow onto his prosthetic.

With Fox's twin blades coming down at him, he brought his real hand up to deflect the blow. The shield Goodwitch had put in place sparked as the blades glanced off of it. He brought the crossbow around to point at Fox's stomach and hit the firing mechanism. Several bolts hit him square on, driving him back. The shield and his Aura both lit up in response. Guts stood up straight, pulling the dragonslayer from the ground as Yatsuhashi regained his balance. Instead of going for him or Fox, Guts charged straight ahead at Coco, holding the dragonslayer in front of him. As he got closer, she stopped firing and dropped her minigun. She planted her feet and raised her hands to intercept Guts' charge. _"The hell is she doing?"_ Guts thought. They met with a crash, Coco being pushed back several feet but holding firm. The girl was much, much stronger than she looked.

She grit her teeth and pushed back as Guts bore down on her. At first they seemed to be evenly matched, but as she struggled against Guts' weight, Coco felt her arms giving out. With a shout, she pushed the massive sword to the side where it embedded itself in the ground. As she tried to jump back, Guts aimed a kick at her, sending her flying across the stage. He then picked up her gun and tossed it aside. On the scoreboard, Coco's Aura level decreased until it nearly disappeared, and she was out of the fight. Satisfied, Guts spun, grasping the hilt of the dragonslayer. As Yatsuhashi and Fox ran at him, he pulled the ground and whirled. The blade caught them both around the midsection and sent them into the walls surrounding the arena. Both Aura levels disappeared from the scoreboard.

Guts straightened and looked around, holstering the dragonslayer. Coco was being helped up by Velvet while Yatsuhashi and Guts pulled themselves from the holes in the wall. Goodwitch gazed at the scene before her before declaring "And the victory goes to Guts!"

The crowd watching- up to this point completely silent- now burst into cheers.

As Guts turned to leave, Coco shouted "Maybe we can do this again some time?"

As he left the arena, he became of a sharp pain at the base of his skull. He took almost no damage during the battle, so that couldn't be-

 _"GUTS! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"_ Schiereke yelled in his mind.

 _"How about you tone it down a little?"_ Guts responded.

 _"Are you alright? How long has it been since we last spoke?"_

 _"It's been almost a week. Where have you been?"_

 _"No, Guts. Remember the time effect?"_ she asked. _"What's been a week for you has only been a couple hours for us."_

 _"Shit. Yeah, I remember. Are you any closer to getting me out of here?"_

 _"Not yet. I did some poking around and found traces of some odd magic, likely what was used to transport you there."_

 _"Think you can recreate the spell?"_ he responded.

 _"No, not yet. I need more time to study it- I could work faster if I recognized the magic, but so far it seems utterly unique."_ she said.

Guts thought for a moment, brushing past several students on his way outside. _"I have people here who are trying to help, but so far they haven't said a word about it."_

 _"Really? What's the magic like in that world?"_ she asked.

 _"It's odd, to say the least. They use a substance they call 'Dust' to power it. It's a special kind of magic, everyone has their own unique way of using it. They call their special powers 'Semblance.'"_

 _"That… sounds amazing. I'd love to see it."_ she replied in a faraway voice.

 _"How about you focus on getting me out of here first?"_ Guts said.

 _"Oh, right. Go talk to the people helping you, I'll see what I can do from here. And Guts, be careful._ Her voice took on a worried tone. _"I've been trying to reach you for a while now- there's some kind of barrier protecting that world from outside influence. Wouldn't want you to meet whoever's behind it."_

 _"Yeah, well_ _ **I**_ _would sure like to meet them."_

 _"Alright, I'm going to disconnect now. We're all doing fine by the way, Puck and Isidro have been up in arms about you disappearing. Farnese and Serpico are worried too, and Casca's… well, she's fine anyway. Goodbye Guts."_

 _"Goodbye."_ He felt the pain in his head subside as her presence vanished.

She was right though- it was high time Ozpin told him what he was waiting on.

At the base of the clock tower Guts was stopped by a guard.

"State your business please." he said.

"I'm here to see Ozpin."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Guts."

"One moment please."

Guts tapped his foot while the guard conferred with someone on an ear piece.

"Alright, go on up. General Ironwood is already up there, so you might have to wait until he's done to see Ozpin."

Guts stepped on to the elevator.

It opened onto a spacious, green-tinted room. Large gears- likely those making up the clock- were visible behind glass on the far wall. In front of them sat a desk where Ozpin was seated, facing a tall man in white. Goodwitch stood off to the side.

As Guts strode towards them the man in white turned to face him. His black hair was shot through with streaks of grey. A silver strip of metal sat above his right eyebrow and a stern look adorned his face. Ozpin leaned forward when Guts stopped in front of the desk.

"Guts, it's good to see you up and about. What can I do for you today?" Ozpin asked.

Guts opened his mouth to respond before being cut off by Ironwood.

"Ozpin, who is this?" he asked, looking Guts up and down. His eyes fell onto Guts' prosthetic hand.

"Ironwood, I forgot you do not know him. His name is Guts and I hired him to help with security for the festival. Guts, this is General Ironwood, commander of the Atlesian military and headmaster of their academy."

"I need answers old man." Guts said, ignoring Ironwood.

"Guts… what business do you have with him right now? We are in the middle of an important meeting." Ironwood said.

"Ironwood was it? It just so happens I have business with Ozpin as well, urgent business I should add." Guts replied, turning towards him.

"Alright you two, please don't be like this for your first meeting. We are all allies here." Ozpin said.

Ironwood grunted and turned back to face the desk.

"Now Guts, please stand by until James and I are finished and I promis I will answer any question you might have."

Guts moved to stand closer to the window. Goodwitch followed his every move with her eyes.

"As I was saying," Ironwood continued, "we haven't heard from Qrow in months. Something must have happened to him or else he would have said something by now."

"And as I said, Qrow is perfectly capable of handling himself. We don't need you to send any military units searching for him at the moment. I think we should give him another week before moving to more drastic measures."

"Fine. But I _will_ hold you responsible if we find him dead."

"And _I_ promise _you_ that won't happen." Ozpin stated before turning to Guts. "Now, what is it you wanted to see me for?"

"It's been a week, Ozpin, and you haven't told me a single damn thing about getting home." Guts said, walking forward.

"I thought you said he was a mercenary?" Ironwood asked, looking from Ozpin to Guts.

"I said he was hired as security. Now Guts, about your predicament-"

"My predicament?" Guts felt his temper rising. "I was taken from my world and thrust into yours without knowing how or why. My Behelit was stolen right out from under my nose, and if I don't find it soon then the horrors of my world will soon be your horrors and I-" Guts snapped his mouth shut, realizing what he had just said.

"Behelit? What is this Behelit?" Ozpin asked, rising. Goodwitch took two steps forward.

 _"Great, just great."_ Guts thought. _"Almost lost my temper, now I'm paying for it."_

"What kinds of horrors? Is there anything important you haven't told me yet?"

Guts sighed. "Look… that egg-shaped thing I tried to take back from you in the hospital? That's the Behelit, and it can cause a disaster bigger than anything you could ever imagine."

"What kind of disaster?" Ozpin asked, an icy tone creeping into his voice.

"That Behelit is the key ultimate power- use it, and you become almost immortal, but at the cost of everything you are."

"What do you mean Guts?" Goodwitch said, walking to stand next to Ozpin.

"Where I come from, there are dozens, maybe hundreds of the Behelits. And they all do the same thing- when you are at the lowest point you could possibly go, when all hope is gone and the Behelit is drenched in your blood, they call out to those who created them. In my world, those beings are called the God Hand. They come to you at your darkest hour and offer you a choice- stay the way you are, or become immortal. If you agree then they change you into a being known as an apostle- what you would call a demon. These demons, however, are nothing like the Grimm- the Grimm are strong, but they are predictable. An apostle, on the other hand…. They retain their human form as well as gaining a completely new one. This new form is always something disgusting and evil, but much powerful than any Grimm. And there are only two things they all have in common- they believe all humans are lower life forms, and they feast on us whenever they get the chance. The worst part is that when they are changed, they must make the ultimate sacrifice by devouring one they love dearly during the transformation."

Ironwood, Goodwitch and Ozpin were all silent for several minutes. Ironwood broke the silence by saying "And you brought this thing with you?"

"No." Guts replied. "It appeared after I got here. Whatever brought me in must have also wanted my Behelit."

"And have you used this Behelit Guts?" Ozpin asked in a quiet voice.

Guts laughed. "Are you kidding? Of course not. I found it after I killed a rather annoying apostle."

"And is there any way we can track its location?" Goodwitch asked.

Guts shrugged and said "All I know is, it will eventually find its way back to me. It always has."

Ozpin walked around his desk and sat down. Goodwitch watched Guts carefully while Ironwood looked outraged. "Ozpin, why is he even still here? We should throw him out now before-"

"Be quiet James." Ozpin said, not looking up from his desk.

Ironwood fell silent.

The room was quiet for several minutes, the only sound being that of the ticking clock tower. Only now, Guts thought, it seemed to be going faster than what it had been.

Finally Ozpin looked up. "You're sure it can only be used at a person's lowest point?"

Guts nodded. "Positive."

"Then I propose a theory." Ozpin stood, and the clock began ticking normally again. "I think that you were not the main target of whatever brought you here"

Guts stared at him

"I think that, somehow, our enemies found out about this Behelit and thought it would be the perfect tool to help them and their cause. However, the magic that brought it also had an unintended side effect- they brought you here as well. I hesitate to call it a lucky break, seeing as you seem to know how to fight these so called apostles. But here is another part to this theory- what if you were brought here just for that reason? What if their plan went south and they had to destroy what had been created? Well, I think they knew to bring you here as well just in case something did go wrong."

"Whatever you theorize, Ozpin, we still need to find this Behelit so it doesn't fall into the enemies hands." Ironwood said, agitated.

"James, I believe they already have it."

"But why-" Ironwood began.

"Haven't they used it yet? I believe they don't know how- or at least, none of them have met their lowest point yet. In this regard, we are still rather lucky."

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Guts asked.

"I say we do nothing for now. The less the enemy thinks we know, the better. For now we should continue on our days as if this meeting had never happened. However we need to all be on our guard in case the Behelit does eventually show up."

"I'm going to put out a notice to my soldiers to be on the lookout for this thing while they patrol." Ironwood said as he walked towards the elevator.

"Do try to be discrete about it James." Ozpin called after him.

As the elevator doors shut, Ozpin sighed and leaned back.

"What should I do?" Guts asked.

"Guts, I want you to stay on your guard for now. From now on I will focus as many resources as I can spare to get you and that accursed Behelit back to where you came from. And if it comes to it, I will need you to destroy whatever monsters may be unleashed by that thing."

"No need to tell me to do that old man." Guts said, grinning.

After Guts had left, Ozpin stood and gazed out the window over his beloved academy. Glynda stood next to him.

"Sir, are you sure we shouldn't send him home right now?"

"Not now since I've learned of the Behelit. As soon as it's found I will personally send him away. Besides, he can still be useful in case something happens during the tournament."

"Sir, the entire Atlesian military is here. What difference could one man make?" Glynda asked.

"You would be surprised."

Ozpin stood for several minutes before sighing and taking a seat. He pulled a computer monitor towards him.

There was still much work to be done.


	5. Chapter 5

The apartment Guts lived in would put any inn back at Midland to shame. A soft feather bed and pillows, running water, he could bathe whenever he wanted, and the best part was that there were no fleas infesting the place. The television had interested him at first, but he quickly grew bored of it. There was almost nothing on except for coverage of the Vytal Festival ther than some kind of petty drama show. His armor was left in a sitting positon on the room's one chair, the dragonslayer leaning on the wall next to it. On the desk sat his other equipment- repeating crossbow, extra bolts, an assortment of throwing knives, his larger hunting knife, and prosthetic hand. Having just got out of another bath, he was currently only dressed in black trousers. He sat up straight on the bed as he wrapped his arm stump in bandages, using his teeth to help tie them off.

Earlier, Coco had sent him an invitation to watch her team as well as the rest of Beacon's competitors in the tournament, which he had declined. However, while looking over the roster of teams, he saw the woman who had harassed him earlier, along with the other two who had followed him. He had no idea who the third woman was that was listed with Cinder's team. When his eyes fell upon the roster, he had grinned. It would be a perfect opportunity to see their fighting capabilities first hand.

He stood, having finished wrapping the bandages around his arm. He slid the prosthetic over the bandages, wrapping the straps around his neck and shoulder to keep it in place. The armor came on next, followed by the belt of knives around his chest, belt holding the crossbow and bolts, and finally the holster for the dragonslayer. He hefted the massive sword in his right hand and swung it around to slide into place on his back as he walked out the door. The woman at the front desk wished him a good day when he left the building, heading towards the air field to fly up to Beacon. He joined the steady stream of people who were also going to see the tournament, many of which stopped to stare at him. At the entrance to the airfield was a checkpoint where all spectators had to turn in their weapons.

"Alright, next!" cried the Atlas soldier, waving Guts forward.

"State your name and weapons please." said the man.

Guts felt uncomfortable giving up his sword when Cinder was so close, but he always had the cannon hidden in his arm in case things went wrong. "Name's Guts, I have this sword and a crossbow."

He slung the dragonslayer off his back and handed it over to the guard. The soldier nearly collapsed under its weight.

"Dear god man, how do you even swing this?!" he gasped as two more soldiers rushed to help him. Guts shrugged and handed over the crossbow. He passed through the main gate and headed out on to the airfield as the soldiers wheezed behind him.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the fortieth biannual Vytal Festival Tournament!"_

Ruby heard the crowd roar as Professor Oobleck spoke into the microphone. She and the rest of team RWBY stood behind two massive closed doors leading to the arena. After she and Yang had returned from visiting their dad, they jumped right into some last minute training for the tournament the day before they fought. Now, after months of training, it was time to show the world what her team could do.

"And now for the opening ceremonies." Professor Port announced. The ceremonies consisted of a history of the Great War, the four schools and the Vytal Festival itself. According to the program Blake had picked up earlier, it would last several minutes. After that would be when the first teams were introduced and the tournament would officially start.

"I _still_ can't believe you met Guts without me!" Yang yelled as they waited to be called out. She, Ruby and Blake sat on a bench while Weiss paced around the room, mumbling about battle strategies.

"How was I supposed to know who he was? I didn't even get to see his giant sword before Weiss found me!" Ruby replied.

 _"I_ found _you_?! You came running at me like we hadn't seen each other in weeks!" Weiss said, pacing faster.

"Calm down you three, we shouldn't be doing this right before a battle." Blake said, stretching.

"I'll calm down when I feel like it!" Yang said, beating her fist on the bench.

"What _I_ can't believe is how team CFVY lost so quickly to him. He must be an amazing fighter." Weiss said. After the fight, word spread quickly how one of Beacon's best teams had been beaten by one man in less than five minutes.

"Yeah, I wish I could have seen that fight." Ruby replied. "From what Coco said the guy didn't even break a sweat."

"Maybe we can get him to fight _us_ , ya think? I'd love to see how well I'd do against someone like him." Yang said.

"You wouldn't last three seconds Yang." Ruby said.

 _"And now to introduce our first teams!"_

"Here we go guys, let's get pumped!" Yang said, jumping to her feet. Team RWBY lined up behind the double doors leading to the arena.

 _"Our first team, hailing from Beacon Academy, team RWBY!"_ shouted Oobleck.

The doors swung open and they stepped onto the battlefield.

Guts sat near the top of the arena. When he had first seen the list of battles in the tournament, he had misread the time for Cinder's battle and showed up to early- just in time to see the first fight between teams RWBY and ABRN. As the team's pictures flashed onto the screen hovering above the battlefield, he saw the captain of team RWBY was the girl he had met wandering the town the same day he met the recruiting woman.

"She did say something about being first," Guts muttered as he examined the rest of her team. He saw the girl Ruby talked about- Weiss Schnee- as she wore the same outfit Ruby had described. There was also Yang Xiao Long, a tall girl with long blonde hair. Blake Belladona- _"So she's a faunus"_ \- walked out behind the other three.

As the announcer introduced the other team- team ABRN- Guts examined the seats around him, looking for any signs of Cinder or her accomplices.

 _"And now to set the stage!"_ shouted the announcer as eight screens began to flash a roulette of symbols. Half landed on an image of fire, the rest on ice. The outside sections of the arena rumbled and drew back, revealing a fiery plain and a frozen field.

 _"And, begin!"_

After the match- a decisive victory for team RWBY- Guts stood and moved to the lower stands to get a better view of the next battle.

 _"Wasn't that fight amazing?"_ said one announcer.

 _"Yes, it sure was my friend!"_ said the other. _"Let's check out some highlights as our next teams prepare for combat."_

Guts took his seat a few rows behind the reserved spots for the combatants.

 _"And now to introduce our next teams!"_ shouted the announcer.

Guts was surprised when Cinder's face appeared on screen next to three others, two of which had been the ones to tail him the day he picked up his armor and sword from the blacksmith. The other one was new- a girl with black hair and green eyes. On the battlefield the two teams stood opposite each other as the terrain generator began to spin. He stared down at Cinder's team as they prepared for the battle. The wheels finally slowed down and stopped on grass and the sun.

 _"And begin!"_ said the announcer.

The stage was set on grassland and desert. The two teams clashed loudly in the middle. Any normal person would have difficulty keeping up with their quick movements, but Guts was no ordinary man. Even so, he had some difficulty keeping up with Cinder and Neopolitan. He did his best to study each of their move sets and weapons- Mercury used his legs and some projectile launcher attached to his boots, Emerald used some kind of pistol-curved sword hybrid while Cinder and Neopolitan fought hand to hand. _"There's no way they don't have weapons. Probably didn't want anyone figuring out who they were."_

Out of the four, the one that he had the hardest time reading was Neopolitan. She fought with precise movements and ruthless efficiency, bringing down two members of the opposing team at once with a series of quick punches and kicks. From afar, Guts saw her smiling as she threw her opponents around.

Emerald and Mercury worked well together, taking out one more member of the opposition while simultaneously dodging energy blasts from the last.

Finally, Cinder aimed a kick at the last competitor that sent him flying to Neopolitan's feet. She smiled down at him before kicking him in the head, knocking him out and finishing the match.

 _"And the victory goes to Haven! By George what an awesome match!"_

Guts watched Cinder as she turned and walked out of the arena, Mercury and Emerald close behind. Neopolitan stopped to look over the arena before leaving. _"Well, that wasn't quite what I had hoped for."_ Guts thought. _"Cinder and Neopolitan were obviously holding back, Emerald and Mercury most likely were as well."_

His stomach growled as he stood and stretched. The next match was announced to take place in one hour, although he wasn't especially interested in any more fights- for right now he just wanted to find some food. He joined the crowd of people exiting the main arena and made his way to the airships leaving for the main festival grounds. As he stood in line, his eye continuously moved from one person to the next, searching for the behelit. He didn't think whoever had stolen it would be wearing it out in the open, but it never hurt to be sure. Supposedly Geneal Ironwood had set his soldiers looking for it as well, but Guts doubted his motives- there was no doubt in his mind that Ironwood, or Ozpin even, would either try and destroy it or perform some kind of experiments that would eventually lead to an apostle being created. From what he had seen so far in this world, an apostle may not be as much of a threat as it was in his world, but he didn't want to take any chances.

 _"Can a behelit even_ be _destroyed?"_ Guts thought as he stepped onto the airship.

The stands selling food and trinkets were situated just off the main campus of Beacon Academy. From the dozens of stalls Guts could smell all kinds of food as well as hear the many vendors call out the price of trinkets and prizes for games.

In the corner of his eye a flash went off. He turned towards the source and saw the other woman who was fighting on Cinder's team- Neopolitan- pointing a phone's camera at him. When she saw him looking her way, she smiled and disappeared behind a booth.

"Hey!" Guts shouted as he moved towards her. As he rounded the corner, he bumped into a young man carrying a plate of food.

" _Noo!_ " said the boy as his food dropped to the ground. "Hey man what was-"

As he looked up at Guts, his expression changed from anger to shock. "OH, uh, never mind. Excuse me." He bent to pick up the plate and threw it in a trashcan. Guts looked around, but Neopolitan had disappeared into the crowd. Sighing, he turned around.

"Hey, wait! Is your name Guts by any chance?" called a female voice behind him. He turned back around to face her.

A young woman in red armor stood next to the boy who had run into him. "I heard about you from my friend Ruby. DO you remember meeting with her?"

 _Why do all these people suddenly know me?_ "Yeah, she talked to me while I picked up my armor and sword."

"Well, mister Guts-" she began.

"Just Guts is fine."

"Guts- my name is Pyrrah Nykos. I have to say I've been wanting to meet you for a while now- your battle with team CFVY spread across campus like wildfire."

"Ooohh, _you're_ Guts? Sweet! I've heard so much about you!" said the boy.

"This is Jaune by the way." Pyrrah said as he waved at Guts.

"Thanks." Guts replied.

"If you'd like, we can treat you to lunch in exchange for you meeting the rest of our team- our friend Nora has been dying to meet you." Pyrrah said.

"Thanks, but I'm busy right now."

"Alright then," Pyrah replied, "well, are you going to watch the rest of the tournament?"

"No. I have… important matters to attend to." Guts said.

"Hey, did you know Pyrrah is actually the best student fighter at Beacon?" Jaune asked as Guts turned to leave.

"Interesting." He replied as he walked away.

"Man, that guy is pretty rude if you ask me." Jaune said as Pyrrah pulled out her phone.

"I think he's just distracted." She said as she typed Ren's number into her phone. "Come on, they're going to eat without us if we don't hurry."

Jaune glanced back to Guts' receding figure before following Pyrrah to find the rest of their team.

Guts had gone back to get his weapons before going back to search the area around Beacon. He was currently stood inside a break room usually meant for employees of the school, but Ozpin had granted him special access to these areas since Guts was technically under his hire. Most of the staff was busy out watching the festival where the final battle for the day was taking place, so Guts had the room all to himself. The room had floor to ceiling windows allowing him to see everyone passing by outside. The television was currently turned to a news station. In his left hand he held a cup of water.

" _So many damn people here, I'll never find the behelit,"_ He thought. _"Although whoever has it most likely isn't dumb enough to be wearing it out in public"_

As Guts took a drink of water, a woman opened the door of the break room. She had brown hair and wore a gray two piece suit.

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't think anyone else would be here." She said.

Guts waved, saying "I'm about to leave. No need to get worked up."

"It's not that," she said, "Just expected everyone to be watching the tournament is all."

He nodded and set the now empty cup down.

"Would you mind turning the volume up on the television? I can't really reach it." The woman asked.

Guts brushed his hand against the controls.

"In other news, a representative will be flying in today to speak with General Ironwood on the current status with Atlas and its current military situation." The screen flashed a picture of a young woman with white hair tailed by Atlas troops. Guts briefly looked at the screen before turning to leave-

-and stopped dead in his tracks.

He whirled to face the television, the woman giving him a questioning look.

 _"No, it can't be… Did Ironwood have something to do with this? I need to have a talk with him later, but first…"_ he stalked out of the break room.

As the door clicked shut, Emerald let the illusion disappear. Making sure there were no cameras around, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey, yeah it's me. I found him… yeah, he's still looking for it. Actually, I just got a little help from an Atlas friend. It'll be fun to see him in an actual fight now…. Mhm, yeah I'll meet you there. Oh, also, will you tell Neo thanks for me?"

The airship slowly floated into place at the docks near Beacon at the end of the main pathway. A rank of Atlesian knights stood at attention as the ramp lowered and a woman strode onto the pavement followed closely by four more knights.

From where he stood near the fountain, Guts watched the woman disembark from the airship. From out of the crowd watching, two people walked forward to great her. One wore all white while the other- _"Is that Ruby? What is she doing there?"_

After a brief exchange, Ruby walked off to the side as the two women in white strode down the path. Guts began walking forward his good hand clenched into a fist, the crowd parting before him. He stopped a dozen feet in front of the two, who stopped talking when they noticed him.

He pointed at the older one. "Hey, I've got some questions for you."

Two of the knights moved to stand in front of the two. The woman opened her mouth to respond when someone called out from behind her.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, _Ice Queen_."

The two women whirled around, Guts standing forgotten. Behind them stood a tall man- though not as tall as Guts- wearing a gray shirt, black pants and shoes and a tattered red cloak. His black hair was spiked, and a short sword hung horizontally on his back. He pushed a strand of hair from his face and said "Hey, I _said_ I'm talking to you."

"What is going on?" said the shorter of the two women.

"Weiss, stand back." Said the older one. She turned to the newcomer and said "That was Atlas military property you just destroyed."

 _"Guess I just don't exist now"_ thought Guts.

" _Really_? All I saw was garbage- sentient garbage maybe." Said the man. He seemed to notice Guts for the first time. "Who the hell are you?"

"I could ask you the same question," Guts said as he strode forward.

"Both of you stand down or I'll-" began the woman.

"How about instead you tell me where my behelit is?" Guts said, interrupting her.

"Your what?" asked the woman. Behind her, the man stumbled forward. Guts realized he was drunk.

"I saw you wearing my behelit on the television. Now where is it?" Guts said, stopping a few feet in front of her. The knights raised their weapons.

"I don't know who or what you think you are, but you have no right to talk to me like that. I'll have you know-"

"Does Ironwood have something to do with this?" Guts said, interrupting her again.

"Hey," shouted the man, " _I_ was the one supposed to be the one making her mad, not you."

"Qrow! Shut up!" shouted the woman.

"Whoops, never mind. Looks like I succeeded." The man- Qrow- said.

"Winter, maybe we should just leave-" began the younger girl.

"Not yet Weiss- not until I've put these two in their places." Said Winter.

"Oooohhh, that sounds like a challenge. Hey big guy," Qrow said, turning to Guts, "want to make this more interesting?"

"Make it an all for one?" Guts said, reaching up to grasp the dragonslayer.

"Eh, not what I had in mind, but sure." Qrow smiled.

"Weiss, for the last time step back." Winter said. Weiss meekly obeyed as Winter drew the sabre at her side.

Winter took several steps backward until the three of them formed a triangle. Guts stood with his good hand on the dragonslayer's hilt, Winter stood in a duelist's stance and Qrow hadn't changed positions since he last moved, except for his grin to change into a smirk.

For a moment, all was silent.

Winter suddenly raised her sabre and drove its point into the ground, a ring of glyphs appearing at her feet. Guts moved as soon as he saw the glyphs begin to form, realizing she was casting some kind of magic. As he went to intercept her, Qrow also began to move, grasping his sword. The three of them converged on Winter's ring of glyphs.

Winter pulled her sword out of the ground and leapt upwards as Guts brought the dragonslayer to bear. What had been a blow intended for her instead went for Qrow, who dropped down and slid underneath the blow. Qrow pulled his sword from his back and took a swipe at Guts' left side, which was caught on his prosthetic arm. Qrow seemed mildly surprised at the block.

Winter landed in front of Guts, slashing at his torso. The blow was deflected by his armor.

Guts jumped back from Winter as Qrow twirled around and slashed at her, which she deflected off of her blade. She took two steps back and looked at both of her opponents, the three of them now circling each other. She brought both hands up to her sabre, the handle of which rotated and spat out a smaller dagger which she held in her left hand.

Winter took the initiative this time, leaping towards Qrow, who side stepped her blow, grinning. She slashed at him again and again, Qrow dodging every swipe. Guts stood back, poised to make another attack.

Qrow eventually got tired of dodging and took a retaliatory swipe at Winter, who just managed to catch the blow on her sabre. Guts took the opportunity to bring the dragonslayer around, its length allowing him to slash at both of them at once. Qrow and Winter saw the blow coming and jumped up and backwards, landing several feet away from each other. Guts lunged at Qrow who sidestepped the blow and retaliated with a slash that sent sparks flying off of Guts' armor. From behind him Guts heard the flapping of many wings.

"Might want to watch out big guy." Qrow said as he leapt to the side.

Guts looked behind him just as Winter fired off a spell that sent dozens of white birds flying towards them. Guts raised the dragonslayer to block the attack. A few birds shattered off his armor, and where they struck he felt a creeping sensation of extreme cold. He grit his teeth and swung the dragonslayer in a circle, clearing the area of birds. Winter grimaced then dodged sideways as Qrow sent a sonic wave from his sword at Winter. Qrow ran and jumped up, bringing his sword down on empty ground. The earth shook as Qrow struck the ground.

Winter jumped back as Qrow slashed at her. She landed just out of Guts' reach. Qrow now turned his attention toward Guts as Winter jumped back again. Qrow lunged at him, Guts bringing the dragonslayer up to block his strike. Qrow stepped back and swung again, which Guts side stepped. Guts retaliated by swinging the dragonslayer in a wide arc in front of him, Qrow leaping upwards to avoid the attack. He landed a few feet behind Guts, who quickly spun around to face him. Guts noticed Winter had begun charging her glyphs again. Qrow glanced back at her as well, then turned back to grin at Guts.

"Hey, would ya mind stepping back a little?" Qrow said as he turned to face Winter.

Guts looked down at Qrow, wondering if he was planning some sort of surprise attack. He then noticed Qrow's sword had begun to make a strange ticking sound as a mechanism in the blade began to spin. The blade of the sword began to extend and curve backward, taking on a jagged appearance.

Guts' attention was focused on the blade, and he only looked up when Qrow jerked and the blade began to retract. Guts looked around but saw no reason why he made the blade stop transforming.

"Hey, play along with me okay?" Qrow said, sheathing his sword. He raised his right hand and made a gesture at Winter, who seemed furious with Qrow. Her glyph glowed brightly as she leapt forward, her speed greatly enhanced by the magic.

A split second before her blade hit Qrow, a loud voice yelled out "Schnee!"

Winter instantly stopped her attack, a look of shock on her face. Guts looked for the source of the voice, spotting Ironwood coming out of the crowd of onlookers. " _Did Qrow see him coming?"_

"What is the meaning of this?" Ironwood said as he came to a halt in front of Winter.

"Sir, these men antagonized us-" Winter began.

"Does that matter?" Ironwood said. "We are Atlas, we do not get antagonized by some fools words." He shot a dark look at Qrow, who seemed oblivious to it.

"But-"

"Winter, enough!" Ironwood interrupted. "And you," he said, gesturing to Guts, "why would you attack my subordinate?"

Guts looked around at the surrounding onlookers before turning his attention back to Ironwood. "Maybe we should discuss this with Ozpin."

"Yes, we will. Schnee, let's go." Ironwood strode off. Guts hadn't noticed before, but behind him stood a girl in a green dress, who waved at someone in the crowd. The Atlas group walked away.

From behind him, Guts heard a cry of "Uncle Qrooooooowwwww!"

He turned around to see Ruby hanging off of Qrow's arm.

"Oh it's so good to see you! Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me?!" she said excitedly.

Qrow studied her for a second before grinning widely. "Nope." Ruby dropped off of his arm.

He turned to Guts. "Hey, that was some fancy fighting. How do you know Ozpin?"

"It's a long story." Guts replied, sheathing the dragonslayer.

"Heh, I'm sure it is."

Ruby stood, smiling.

"Hey, what was your name again?" Qrow asked.

"Guts."

"Guts, me and you need to get a drink together sometime. You seem like a good drinking buddy."

Before Guts could respond, Ruby said "Hey you gotta come see Yang! She's missed you a lot too!"

"I'm sure she has. I'll drop by after I talk to Ozzy." Qrow replied.

"Yay!" Ruby said. "I'll go tell her you're here!" She ran off to find her sister.

Qrow sighed and turned to Guts. "Let's go meet the big man then, shall we?"  
Guts nodded and the two of them set off for the clock tower.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*

Thanks for reading my stories. I have absolutely no idea when I'll be able to do chapter 6 but hopefully it will be earlier than the three months it took me to do this one.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*


	6. Update

Hello all, simply a banana come to chat. When I posted the last chapter I was a few weeks into a semester of college and no job. However, I now have two jobs and just got out for winter break. I have been insanely busy these past few months and this story has not been at the front of my mind for a long time. So here is my announcement- if I cannot get the next chapter uploaded by New Year's Day I will no longer work on this fic. However, until January 5th if anyone would like to take ownership of my story they can. I don't mean to be picky but I ask that if you would like to take over you will have to convince me you will do a good job with it. Otherwise, I will take the story down entirely. Please do not message me about taking over the story until January 2nd. Thank you all for reading my stories, and know that one way or another it will be finished. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas.


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